Picture this: You go to the drugstore, say CVS, because you desperately need to buy certain items. You know “feminine hygiene” items. The items that have their very own section in CVS; items that are distinctly for people with female anatomy. Yet, when you go to the cash register you discover that these items have a certain extra amount of money attached to them.
The above situation describes the “tampon-tax,” which has recently come under fire within the US, and for good reason. BBC News described the “tax” in the following manner: “The so-called tampon tax is a sales tax on feminine hygiene products which are used to absorb menstrual blood.” The “tax” tries to make feminine hygiene products into “luxury” items when, for many of us, they are a basic necessity.
Feminine hygiene products are not the only products women use that perpetuate this type of sexist thinking. We see this in the graphic t-shirts young girls wear and how they’re different from those of boys; we see this in items as simple as a razor.
Not only do women pay more for feminine hygiene products, but now they have to pay more for razors too? BBC News reported on January 2, 2017: “Supermarket chain Tesco has cut the price of women’s disposable razors to match a similar product for men.” Apparently, before this cut, Tesco charged twice the amount for women’s razors than they charged for men’s. Keep in mind the price cut only affects basic razors at the moment.
As for what Tesco had to say about the difference in price pre-cut, BBC News stated, “Tesco said the previous price disparity was driven by the fact that men’s razors were produced and sold in singularly higher volumes, which reduced the price paid for them.” This does not take into account that some women might buy men’s razors simply because they are cheaper.
The price discrepancies do not just stop at razors or feminine hygiene products. Women and girls, according to an investigation into the matter, spend roughly 37% more on clothes, toys, and beauty products than men do. What all of this amounts to is that women have to pay more for items than men do, simply, because they are women.
While Tesco’s price cuts may be a step in the right direction, it is not a solution for a much larger problem: Why do women and girls pay more for products than men do?
In a society in which women are paid less than men—hello wage gap—they should not have to pay more for the same products. Sexism is the perpetual thorn in our sides that haunts everything we do, and it has dually damaging effects on both men and women. It should not, however, haunt how much women have to pay for certain things, so let’s put an end to it.
While a woman’s razor, such as Venus Embrace, may offer more comfort during shaving than a standard men’s razor does, ultimately the razors function in the same manner, perform the same job, and will cut you just the same if you are not careful. You could argue that the women’s razors are fancier than men’s, but men have some pretty fancy razors as well, and still the price disparity persists.
A razor is a razor no matter how fancy.
Featured Image by Matt Thompson on Flickr
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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